"Has anyone seen Jiraiya-sama in the camp?"
"If it's Jiraiya-sama, he probably went to see those people calling themselves 'Akatsuki' again today."
"Again? Seriously… Even if the three leaders are his former disciples, he's treating them way too seriously, isn't he? What if Iwa sneaks around again—"
"You think our sensory team and Akatsuki's rain are decorations?" another shinobi scoffed. "Relax and wait for Jiraiya-sama to return."
Konoha's camp buzzed with uneasy talk.
Meanwhile, inside Akatsuki's temporary encampment, Jiraiya's expression was nothing like the casual confidence the camp imagined.
"So…" Jiraiya murmured, gaze complicated as he stared at the three young people before him. "Nagato… you met someone like that while searching for your answer?"
"Of course." Yahiko shot a look at Nagato, half annoyed, half amused. "When Nagato came back from the Land of Whirlpools and suddenly buried himself in developing Rinnegan abilities, it scared the hell out of us."
"I thought he'd run into something weird over there—or gotten caught in genjutsu."
Yahiko crossed his arms, scowling.
"Turns out he was just talked into a haze by someone's words."
"Yahiko," Konan said, setting down a flower she had been folding. She bumped him lightly with her shoulder, smiling. "The one who tried to persuade Nagato and got persuaded instead wasn't me."
"If Nagato was 'in a haze,' then wouldn't that make you… even worse than hazy?"
"Y-You're noisy!" Yahiko snapped, cheeks faintly warm. "I-I was just… happy that Nagato's inner confusion cleared up, so I just… cooperated a little. That's all!"
Nagato watched them, smiling with quiet relief.
Then he looked to Jiraiya, voice gentle.
"Jiraiya-sensei… do you disagree with the answer I found?"
"No," Jiraiya said slowly, shaking his head. His face held real worry. "I wouldn't say I disagree."
He sighed.
"I just can't help thinking… if you truly reach the point where you can stop all wars through your own power…"
"Then every hawkish faction in every nation will put Akatsuki at the top of their kill list."
"Wouldn't that be… exhausting?"
"Those who want to change the world can't afford to be comfortable," Nagato replied calmly.
He pointed at his Rinnegan, eyes unwavering.
"If the string of war stays taut forever, people won't look beyond war."
"But even if it's only surface-level peace—if it lasts long enough—flowers that can only bloom in peacetime will begin to grow inside every village."
"If war never ends, even those who crave peace will lose the imagination needed to create it."
"Long war will strip them of the ability to envision peace… and turn them into people accustomed to war."
"Those bound and assimilated by war can't create new policies and systems meant for peaceful governance the way people raised in peace can."
Yahiko let out a breath, gaze distant.
"To put it simply… even someone like me, who grew up with Konan—when I see her folding paper, I don't think, 'Oh, she's just making a decoration.'"
"My first thought is, 'She's making a paper-flower-shaped weapon.'"
He shook his head with a bitter smile.
"After Nagato explained it, I realized war had shaped me far more than I thought."
"But if compromising a bit on ideals lets more people escape war sooner—if it lets them taste peace from the beginning as they grow…"
"Then I'm willing."
"Maybe we're only a bridge on the road to peace."
"But if the fruit called 'peace' can be picked sooner because of us… then what we sacrifice is worth it."
Konan finished folding the paper flower and handed it to Jiraiya without a word.
"I don't have dreams as grand as Nagato and Yahiko," she said softly. "But I'll stay with them."
"I'll take care of these two reckless idiots."
Jiraiya accepted the paper flower, staring at the crisp folds.
Then he looked at the three disciples who had grown enough to make him believe in them.
He sighed and gave a self-mocking shake of his head.
"What is this…? Now the only one who doesn't know how to strive for peace is me, the teacher?"
"Teacher could become Hokage," Konan said seriously, pointing at his forehead protector.
"If Jiraiya-sensei becomes Hokage, then that's one more Kage willing to stand behind us."
"Hahaha—Konan, don't force the impossible." Jiraiya laughed loudly, waving the idea away. "I'm already old. How could I shamelessly steal the Hokage seat from Minato?"
He was about to bring up Minato—his other proud student—
But in the moment before the name could leave his mouth, Jiraiya's brow suddenly furrowed.
Something about Konan's words caught him wrong.
"Wait," he said slowly. "Konan…"
"Did you just say… 'one more Kage willing to support you'…?"
"Yes," Nagato replied, nodding. "Konan said exactly that."
His eyes met Jiraiya's, earnest and calm.
"Though at this moment, none of us—nor you, nor that person—have yet reached the positions we should be in…"
"But I don't think it will be long."
Nagato spread his hands slightly, posture sincere.
"Jiraiya-sensei… will you join us?"
"If you—or your student Namikaze Minato—would support us after becoming Hokage…"
"Then our plan for peace can begin far sooner."
A cold, ominous premonition seized Jiraiya's heart like a fist.
His body tightened.
Like a frog bumping headfirst into a starving venomous snake, unprepared—so startled it could barely move.
His voice came out slow, careful.
"…Nagato."
"Can you tell me the name of that other person—who is about to become a Kage?"
Nagato's face showed faint helplessness.
"That… I can only answer clearly after you agree to join us."
"After all, that person stirred up something earthshaking… then vanished without a trace."
"I don't believe he died for no reason, but…"
Nagato's sentence cut off.
He stood abruptly.
Eyes closing, he used the Rain Tiger at Will technique—feeling the presence that had entered the perimeter.
Then his expression eased in an instant, tension dissolving like mist.
He turned back toward Jiraiya—who was still on guard, though perhaps not even sure who he was guarding against—and smiled.
"Jiraiya-sensei," Nagato said lightly, "didn't you just ask who that other Kage-supporting person is?"
"That person seems to be nearby."
"Why not let him come in himself… and meet you?"
"Really?"
The one who blurted it out wasn't Jiraiya—
It was Yahiko, eyes wide.
"Wait, Nagato. The guy you're talking about—Kaguya Ren—why would he suddenly come here?"
"With Mist's situation as messy as it is, shouldn't he go back to Kirigakure first after escaping from wherever he was?"
"If I go back right now," a voice said, amused, "I'll have to draw a line with the Third Mizukage face-to-face."
"After that, the troubles I'd have to deal with would pile higher than the sky."
"Where would I find the time to worry about you all the way out here in the Land of Rain?"
A tall, slender figure stepped through the curtain of rain outside.
He wore loose white robes.
Long black hair fell to his waist, damp with rain that clung like glass beads.
He walked lightly into the room, as if rain and war could not touch him.
Nagato smiled and moved forward.
"Long time no see, Kaguya Ren."
Ren extended his hand.
"Mm. Long time no see, Nagato."
They clasped hands briefly.
Then Ren turned his head.
He looked toward Jiraiya—who had already bitten his finger and was summoning Myōboku toads—and grinned.
"This is our first meeting, isn't it?"
"The sage entrusted by the Great Toad Sage's prophecy…"
"One of the Sannin—Jiraiya."
Ren's purple eyes narrowed.
The vertical pupils of a serpent stared steadily at Jiraiya—
And at the two toads that appeared on his shoulders.
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